Easy Fluffy Pancakes Recipe

How to make fluffy pancakes at home, with ease. This easy recipe makes pancakes that are light and fluffy and only requires a few simple ingredients you probably have in your kitchen right now.

We love simple, no-fail recipes. Recipes you come back to again and again. Those that you know are easy to adapt or add to with ease. This recipe is just that. It’s quick to make and we’re willing to bet you’ve got everything you need to make them right now.

Pancakes that are light and fluffy. They're not too sweet and are lightly scented with vanilla, making them extra delicious. These are easy to adapt -- try adding a handful of berries, nuts or chocolate to the batter.

Yield: 8 pancakes

You Will Need

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 cups (295 ml) milk, dairy and non-dairy both will work

1 large egg

4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for skillet

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Prepare Batter

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and the salt in a medium bowl.

Warm milk in microwave or on top of stove until lukewarm, not hot (you should be able to keep your finger submerged for 10 seconds). Whisk milk, egg, melted butter and the vanilla extract until combined. (By warming the milk slightly, the melted butter mixes into the milk instead of turning into small lumps).

Cook Pancakes

Heat a large skillet (or use griddle) over medium heat. The pan is ready if when you splatter a little water onto the pan surface, the water dances around the pan and eventually evaporates.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour milk mixture into the well and use a fork to stir until you no longer see clumps of flour. It is okay if the batter has small lumps, in fact you want that – it is important not to over-mix the batter.

When edges look dry and bubbles start to appear and pop on the top surfaces of the pancake, turn over. This takes about 2 minutes. Once flipped, cook another 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked in the middle.

Serve immediately with warm syrup, butter and/or berries.

Notes and Tips

We use kosher salt. If you don’t have it on hand, keep this in mind: 1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt = about 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt.

I have tried many recipes but failed miserably. In Malaysia we usually buy the premix to get a fluffy pancake but today I tried your recipe. It was awesome! I have shared it with all my malaysian friends. It’s easy to make and deliciously fluffy n light. Thank you so much

I read your recipe this morning because I need to make somtin nice since its a free day for me and my fiance.this is the best pancake ever,my fiance keeps coming to the kitchen every minute,so fluffy,nice and the smell,oh my God!….I need to hit the 5 star botton!….thanks Adam and joanne…..from nigeria

My 8 year old found your recipe and made these today, by herself, for me for mother’s day. Great recipe, easy enough for a child to make, and came out fluffy and delicious. This is going to replace the recipe I usually make for the family.
Thanks! You helped make my mother’s day

Been looking for a good pancake recipe. Saw this page this morning. We tried it and WE LOVE IT! It is perfect! Nice and fluffy. Just what I wanted!
Thank you so much. It has been added to my recipe book.

These pancakes ROCK!! For those of you who have said otherwise… Seriously…Come on, If you had difficulty following something so easy, that tastes so delicious then indeed, you are better off sticking with cereal 101. This is one BAD ASS recipe, worthy of making time & time again. Thank you for sharing. 5 Stars.

These are the best pancakes I’ve had in a long time! The vanilla extract adds in a richer flavor. I added another tablespoon of sugar because I like them a little sweeter and find that a lot of recipes are too bland.

i usually use jiffy pancake mix, but when i reached for it, no box. i’ve tried a couple of scratch recipes, but this one by-far was the absolutely best. not sure what would happen if i thinned it out a little. it was thick, but pancakes were fluffy. i think i will add another teaspoon of vanilla.
Also, i did not read the conversion regarding the salt difference and therefore, i did not put enough salt. they were still good.

Awesome recipe..did it today for the first time and it was like eating a cake! super easy and quick to make, now we’ll have to think of what to mix it with next time..oh the possibilities! are endless!

I’m from Malaysia. Made it several times. Turns out great & fluffy every time (except the first).Son loves making them and eating it after that (he is 6 by the way). And yes, do not over mixing it . Hubby gave it a 2 thumbs up. Better than previous recipe I made before. Glad to find yours! Keep it up! You made families happy enjoying their breakfast (and also mommies as the ingredients are easily found in kitchens and always turns out fluffy and delicious proof).

I found your recipe on Pinterest, and out of all the pancake recipes I’ve tried, this one is the best! Hands down!
I was hesitant to try this recipe, because it called for milk…considereing the place I live in, milk is rarely drunk, at least in this household…so I tried plain ol’ water, as a replacement, and these pancakes still turned out REALLY good!
When I go home to Texas, I’ll definitely use milk in the recipe then…
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I give it two thumbs up!!!

This recipe tasted like i was eating playdough, it was so runny and sticky, it didnt bubble when i cooked it. It was really fluffy but as soon as i put it in my mouth it went gross. Still stuck in my teeth.. never making this again.

These were absolutely delicious! I didnt read through the directions so the batter ended up lumpy and thick, but I didn’t really care because they ended up being huge, thick, fluffy, moist pancakes. I also added cinnamon to them and substituted the cow milk for almond milk. and they were sooo yummy!

Hey folks! Loved your recipe but made some changes…I had no eggs so substituted macadamia nut oil, didn’t want to use butter so substituted honey, and didn’t have regular milk so substituted Oat Milk- all to listed proportions…. ABSOLUTELY WORKED FOR ME. My family loved them, they were so fluffy once my griddle heated up properly. Definitely keeping this in mind.

Kia Ora, this recipe is fantastic. My sons are really fussy when it comes to pancakes and they loved these. Thank you soooo much. I definately noticed the fluffy texture and we loved it more with mini m&m’s .

Great recipe! Ran out of mix so decided to make pancakes from scratch. My daughter, who never comments on my cooking, commented on how much she liked these pancakes. I couldn’t find my liquid measurer so had to use my dry measurer for everything and they still came out fluffy, light, and tasty! Thanks for sharing!

We made these two week-ends in a row now. The Aunt Gemima will never grace our table again. Great recipe and hints. Whole family loved them. Very light and fluffy. I did add an extra tablespoon of sugar this time as I wanted to try them a little sweeter. Did not take away from the flavor at all. Thanks for the recipe.

I’ve tried a few pancake recipes found online and have never gotten fluffy pancakes till I tried this recipe yesterday! One question though, how do I measure 4 tbsp butter, melted? Does that means just adding 4 tbsp of liquid butter in the batter? My pancakes were almost perfect but was too savoury! I added around 8-9 tbsp of liquid butter that I melted. I scooped 4 tbsp of butter to melt. Kindly advise!

As a longtime wife and mother(31years) I’ve used many recipes for lots of things, and this is a very good one for a great American pancake,it’s light , fluffy and tasty. It will lend itself well to many additions and could be mixed up by a beginner cook very easily. Just know your ingredients should be fresh , throw out baking powder after 6 months and get new if you can’t use the whole can up. It is better to toss it out than waste a whole batch of something. Warm the milk means take the chill off it,not heat it like you would for a yeast bread and whisk the dry ingredients first so when you add the wet you will only stir to combine. You will have a great pancake and a full tummy.

I have searched high and low for years for a good light fluffy pancake recipe with just using basic ingredients (no ricotta cheese, sour cream, etc) and this is seriously AMAZING. I printed it and will make it for years to come. I paired it with a homemade brown sugar syrup recipe and YUM. Thank you so much for sharing!

I enjoyed this pancake. I haven’t used a box mix in years because of certain reactions to some preservatives. I add 1/2 cup of oats and some cinnamon. Delicious!!! I would like to suggest to those that are not getting a fluffy pancake, to make sure that the baking powder is fresh and not to overheat the milk.

Hi Adam and Joanne,
Thanks heaps for your super easy peasy pancakes recipe! This was my first time making pancakes according to a recipe (usually I made my mum’s version of flat and thin, actually). But with this one, it’s so tasty! I managed to make exactly 8, and mum finished four! She usually disliked my cooking experiments but this one, she thought I bought them! Thanks for making me finally a genius in the kitch.

I notice some of you commenting how your batter turned disaster. My advice: never settle for anything less than good. Because it could either be your lousy technique (mine was under-mixed and didn’t warm the butter but I mix and redo after realising that one the first attempt) or just inaccurate measurements.

Common sense is kinda required, too so don’t give up if it didn’t work out first time. Keep trying.

so how much do i need for this recipe? a pinch? and i wanted to make about two to three pancakes, do you mind to help me convert the recipe serving size? i am sorry if you’re angry becuase i am doing this for my exam and my teacher said only can make 2-3 pancakes. i hope you will help me by converting the recipes size in to 2-3 pancakes.

Needed to add more milk as batter was too thick. I’ve never heard of kosher salt, I don’t think it’s common in Australia, I used sea salt ground down a little coarser than table salt but mixture was way too salty, couldn’t eat it. Could see how it would be nice otherwise.

Hi there — We’re really not sure why your pancakes were so thin. These should puff up quite a bit. You might want to check your baking powder for freshness. It’s possible it didn’t react as it should have. Sorry they didn’t work out for you!

I know this post is old, but it really saddened me to read your post! I hope your dad has started encouraging you to cook, rather than being upset at you trying so many recipes! How else are you going to learn?? What I can suggest in the future is, until you learn to cook very well on your own, DON’T make or try any recipes that don’t have many, many, good reviews – no matter *how* pretty the pictures are. A good site (besides this one) to get good tried & rated recipes from is AllRecipes.com. Once you have made quite a few good recipes, I’m sure your dad will come around. If you ever need any easy recipes to try to make, you can email me if you wish. Good luck in your cooking adventures, Bethany!

This worked wonderfully as the base pancake recipe for my first attempt at making breakfast for my friend. I tweaked it of course. I used almond milk and added cinnamon and a little more liquid to make pouring it easier.

Wow!! I tried these this morning and they are fantastic! Super easy to make (made them on a weekday morning before going to work, although I mixed the dry ingredients last night).
They are definitely fluffier than standard pancakes and the flavor is very delicate. They were delicious as-is, but they are the perfect base for mix-in’s. I can’t wait to experiment with citrus zest, chocolate chips, berries, or winter spices such as ginger and cinnamon! Yum

I’m really interested in trying this recipe but I’m surprised at the amount of baking powder — is it really a full tablespoon, or that’s an error and it’s just a teaspoon?

Also, do you know the total amount of dry ingredients in cups? I would like to make this recipe in bulk and store it in a big bin. Then, any morning, I could make pancakes for my family in no time. But I’d need to know how many cups of dry ingredients to use though…

love this recipe, but wondering why it seems so thick! like, almost yogurt consistency; i had to add more milk; that was the first batch…also added sliced apples and TONS of cinnamon. second batch going right now– i added frozen lemonade (after seeing recipes elsewhere that used lemon juice) and eliminated the sugar; then added blueberies…..looks like they will be great! but wondering why, still, again–the batter is so thick?? and i am very conscientious about not over-mixing, too…ideas, guys? thanks in advance!

The batter can be on the thicker side — you can add milk or just use a spoon to spread the batter in the pan. Sometimes the way we all measure flour is a little different. Adam and I use the scoop and sweep method, which means one cup of flour equals 140 grams. That method “fluffs” the flour a little before measuring. If you were to just scoop right from the bag, you would probably have more flour in the measuring cup. This could lead to a thicker batter.
Hope that helps.

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